The early North Louisiana pioneers were more concerned with the erection
of a shelter for protection from the elements and wildlife than they
were with architectural styles. Folk houses were constructed of either
horizontal logs or wood frame.
The typical log folk house plans of the mid 19th century in the hilly
country were the single pen (room) wide and the dogtrot. The dogtrot
plan consisted of the two single pens (rooms) separated by a floored and
roofed but open walled space. (The designation “pen” is used only in
reference to the rooms built of log construction).
Folk house plans constructed of wood frame during the 19th century were
the one room, two room, saddlebag, dogtrot, central hall and later the
gable front and wing. These house types will be examined subsequently.
Pictured on this page are examples of log construction. In figure 4 the
logs were split; the inner room wall surface would be even. In figure 5
may be seen several elements of folk log house construction in the
drawing of a house being dismantled. This dogtrot with open passage
between pens had an attached porch, square logs with square notches, an
end exterior chimney (base visible), three inch round pole roof rafters
and gallery door openings with the head occurring at the seventh log. In
figure 6 a close-up detail shows the square hewn logs and square notches
on this dogtrot.
[Illustration: _Fig. 4. Log notch detail (Bldg. 76)._]
[Illustration: _Fig. 5. An 1880’s square notch log dogtrot (Bldg.
6)._]
[Illustration: _Fig. 6. Square notch detail (Bldg. 6)._]
[Illustration: _Fig 7. An 1898 central-hall house with integral
gallery (Bldg. 55)._]
[Illustration: _Fig. 8. Late 1890’s gable-front-and-wing house
(Bldg. 15)._]
[Illustration: _Fig. 9. Late 1880’s two room house with vertical
board and batten siding (Bldg. 77)._]